Method and apparatus for performing a research task by interchangeably utilizing a multitude of search methodologies

ABSTRACT

A method of and apparatus for performing a research task interchangeably utilizes a multitude of search methodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, and parametric search. A search criteria is correlated to a searchable database for generating one or more matching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to a segment of the searchable database. The process is repeated by correlating a subsequent search criteria to one of the matching items for generating one or more subsequent matching items until the research task is completed. The searchable database can be formatted in a directory tree structure which includes nodes comprising a collection of related data and branches comprising links between the nodes. The collection of related data for a particular node can be displayed in an encyclopedia-like format. A specific node within the directory tree structure is accessible using a query string which defines a navigation path through the directory tree structure to access the specific node.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the nowabandoned U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Ser. No. 60/188,328 filedMar. 9, 2000 entitled “Web Access Network Productivity Tool” and Ser.No. 60/200,963 filed May 1, 2000 and entitled “Web Access NetworkProductivity Tool.” The Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/188,328 filed Mar. 9, 2000 and entitle “Web Access NetworkProductivity Tool” and Ser. No. 60/200,963 filed May 1, 2000 andentitled “Web Access Network Productivity Tool” are also herebyincorporated by reference.

The following co-owned, co-filed, co-pending U.S. patent applications,Ser. No. 09/801,138, filed on Mar. 6, 2001, and entitled METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR PERFORMING A RESEARCH TASK BY INTERCHANGEABLY UTILIZING AMULTITUDE OF SEARCH METHODOLOGIES, Ser. No. 09/800,592, filed on Mar. 6,2001, and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMATTING INFORMATIONWITHIN A DIRECTORY TREE STRUCTURE INTO AN ENCYCLOPEDIA-LIKE ENTRY, Ser.No. 09/800,607, filed on Mar. 6, 2001, and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUSFOR APPLYING A PARAMETRIC SEARCH METHODOLOGY TO A DIRECTORY TREEDATABASE FORMAT, Ser. No. 09/799,032, filed on Mar. 6, 2001, andentitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR NOTIFYING A USER OF NEW DATA ENTEREDINTO AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/801,140, filed on Mar. 6, 2001,and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING INFORMATION WITHIN ANELECTRONIC SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/800.566, filed on Mar. 6, 2001, andentitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING DATA WITHIN AN ELECTRONICSYSTEM BY AN EXTERNAL SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/801,076, filed on Mar. 6,2001, and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ORGANIZING DATA BYOVERLAYING A SEARCHABLE DATABASE WITH A DIRECTORY TREE STRUCTURE arealso incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method of performing a research task. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a method of performing a researchtask by interchangeably utilizing a multitude of search methodologies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Information technology (IT) continues to rapidly evolve and with thisevolution comes advanced complexity. As new technologies are introducedinto enterprise networks, the need to interoperate the new technologieswith existing legacy technologies becomes of greater concern andnecessity. Enterprises are intrinsically multi-functional in nature, yetapplications and systems technologies tend to be single-functionentities with closed architectures and proprietary internals. This coreincongruence results in disparate, incompatible legacy systems ofvarious kinds, incompatible hardware systems and devices, andheterogeneous platform systems mutually incomprehensible to each other.This phenomenon has been referred to as Enterprise ApplicationDysintegration, or EAD. As a result, the function of IT is more and morebecoming the integration of heterogenous components. Currently, noautomated means are available and the integration is effected manuallyby human agents at great cost, time, and inefficiency. Indeed, with theimplementation of a new technology, exists the understanding that inaddition to implementation issues associated solely with the newtechnology comes the downtime, cost, and disruption of re-architectingand re-building currently useful legacy functionality associated withintegration.

With new applications and systems also comes associated new data andinformation that needs to be stored and managed. Also comes the need tointegrate legacy data for use by the new technologies. Disparate systemsinter-operate effectively through well defined interfaces. To facilitatethis inter-operability, heterogeneous syntactic formats need to betranslated into well known intermediary formats understood by allsystems in the exchange. This is often referred to as syntactictransformation, of which XML is being proposed as the universalintermediary for data exchange. Beyond syntax also lies the meaning ofterms, a problem commonly referred to as semantic reconciliation. Toaddress semantic reconciliation, a formal agreement is typically madebetween communicating systems about the meaning of terms in a particulardomain of knowledge and application.

There are many robust technologies for data-level integration, includingdatabase-specific Call Level Interfaces (CLIs), Open DataBaseConnectivity (ODBC), and Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC). However,these interface technologies require sophisticated user knowledge andare quite tedious to implement and update.

Although there are database-to-database integration technologiescurrently available, there is no standard methodology for reusing legacyinformation with newly introduced technologies. A primary objective isto integrate systems and data without disturbing them. Minimizing anytype of data conversion plays to this concept of being non-invasive.

In addition to the problem of integrating new technologies with legacyinformation is the problem of how to manage and access the explosivegrowth in the amount of data. Increased memory and remote electronicdata storage capacity offers access to large amounts of data in a veryconvenient form and physical size. Data may be available on diskette,CD-ROM, magnetic tape, and on line to a centrally located computer andmemory storage medium. On line access to such stored data is primarilyprovided by business data networks and the world wide web, hereinafterreferred to as the Internet. By 1993, the Internet had approximately 130sites that could be hyper-linked together with keywords. The Internethas grown quickly since then. Sites on the Internet have increased fromapproximately 1.6 million at the end of 1997 to 9.6 million at the endof 1999. Today, multiple technologies are available to access and managedata presented on the Internet. The challenge remains to extractinformation from the data simply and efficiently and to have confidencein the result that all relevant items have been uncovered. To focus inon relevant database records, search engines generally use keywords,categorization, segment limitations, Boolean logic, and hit counts. Morecomplex search engines can also employ hierarchical categorization andmultifaceted searching.

Keywords are the basis of most searches. A simple keyword search, suchas that found in most word processors under the “Find” command, willlocate the occurrence of a text string within a document or a record.Misspellings, synonyms, or different tenses of a given text string willnot be located. The searcher must be cautious to truncate the textstring to a word's root. A search for the text string “graphical”, forinstance, will not locate instances of the text string “graphics.” Thesearcher must also not choose commonly occurring words, as such a searchwould result in a high number of search results. Keywords are commonlycombined with categorization, segment limitations, Boolean logicoperators, advanced keywording, date operators and numeric operators tocreate a more effective search.

Categorization is a technique used to focus the scope of a search. Acategory is a subset of records. By conducting a search only within thissubset of records, fewer irrelevant hits result. Lexis-Nexis™ andDialog™, two online searchable databases with proprietary searchengines, are examples of categorized databases. Prior to conducting akeyword search within the Lexis-Nexis™ or Dialog™ database, the searchermust select from an extensive list of categories. Some categories arebroader than others. If the searcher selects an overly broad category,his or her search will result in too many irrelevant hits and thesearcher will waste time sorting through the undesired search resultrecords looking for relevant hits. If the searcher selects an overlynarrow category, his or her search results will not include some of thedesired records. Selection of an appropriate category, therefore, is ofvital importance.

Searches can be further focused with the use of segment limitations.Such a search is also commonly referred to as a parametric search.“Segments” are similar to categories in that they are domain specific.Category classifications are used to divide multiple records intosubsets, or “fields”. Segment classifications are used to divideindividual records into specific groupings of information. Usingsegments, or parameters, keyword searches can be targeted at certainfields of a record, such as a record's title or author. Search enginesdistributed by Lexis-Nexis™ and Dialog™, two online searchable databaseproviders, are well-adapted to such targeted searches, often usingdozens of segments for each category of records. A news article record,for instance, is typically broken down into separate fields for byline,date, publisher, abstract, and body. To find a news article with theword “elephant” in the title (or headline) using the classical interfaceof the Lexis-Nexis™ search engine, the following syntax would be needed:“HEADLINE(elephant)”.

Using keyword searching may not be very helpful if the user is notfamiliar with the appropriate standard terminology related to theinformation they are looking for. Further, there may be many appropriateways to describe the information sought by the user. A concept expressedby a standard industry term in one industry may be different from astandard industry term in a different industry. A keyword search wouldrequire searching all synonyms used in order to ensure a complete andaccurate result.

When a user of a searching/retrieval system enters a keyword searchquery into a system, the query is parsed. Based on the parsed query, alisting of documents relevant to the query is provided to the user. Inthe prior art, it is also known to use semantic networks when parsing aquery. The number of words used to search the database is then expandedby including the corresponding words or associated words identified bythe semantic network in the search instructions. This expansion can bebased on any one or a combination of using stems or roots of terms,using sound-a-like words, using wildcard words or any other appropriatesemantic technique.

Boolean operators, such as “AND”, “OR” and “MINUS”, are used to enhancethe capabilities of a search engine. The basic format of Boolean queriesis well known in the art and generally takes on the form of “X OR Y”,where X and Y are two distinct keywords. Because search requests areprocessed by a computer, syntax rules must be strictly followed whendrafting a Boolean keyword search. In many search engines the logicaloperators “AND” and “OR” must be capitalized. Some search engines allowadditional syntax that indicates requisite proximity of keywords orhierarchy within a specific Boolean query. Hierarchy within a Booleanquery is usually designated with the use of parenthesis. The “(A OR B)AND (C OR D)” query, for instance, finds a first set of recordscontaining “A OR B” and a second set of records containing “C OR D”,then finds records included in both the first set and the second set.

Using the Boolean operator “AND” in a search expression such as “X ANDY,” will yield records which include both X and Y in the record. Usingthe Boolean operator “OR” in a search expression such as “X OR Y,” willyield records which include either X or Y in the record. Using theBoolean operator “MINUS” in a search expression such as “MINUS X” willyield records which do not include the term X in the record.

A query that is too narrow will result in less than the desired numberof records. Correspondingly, a query that is too broad will result ingreater than the desired number of records. Immediate user feedback on aspecific query helps the searcher construct a better subsequent query.Hit count is perhaps the most effective form of feedback forconstructing a better query. If a query is too narrow, the hit countwill be very low, possibly even zero. If a query is too broad, the hitcount will be very high. Hit count information is used with selectedviewing of search results to alert the searcher of mistakes, such asincorrect category or segment choice, or otherwise assist the searcherin drafting more effective queries. Hit counts are generally displayedafter a given query is executed. Hit counts are more useful whenprovided for each search term and each combination of search terms.Boolean Representation One, illustrated below in Table I, demonstrateshow individual hit counts can be used for the Boolean keyword search for“(cat OR dog) AND (doctor OR veterinarian)”.

TABLE I Boolean Representation One

In the above example, the hit counts are as follows: in the database theterm “cat” is included in 280 records; in the database the term “dog” isincluded in 494 records; in the database the term “veterinarian” isincluded in 34 records; in the database the term “doctor” is included in194 records; in the database the term “cat” or “dog” is included in 774records; in the database the term “veterinarian” or “doctor” is includedin 228 records; and in the database the Boolean query for the Booleanexpression “(cat OR dog) AND (doctor OR veterinarian)” results in thelocation of 4 records. If the Boolean expression is altered by thereplacement of “dog” with “cow”, the hit count change ripples throughthe Boolean expression's representation as shown in BooleanRepresentation Two, illustrated below in Table II.

TABLE II Boolean Representation Two

Feedback from individual hit counts gives the searcher access toinformation normally hidden. Viewing individual hit counts, a searcheris better able to identify search terms that are too specific, toobroad, or misspelled.

An additional search tool is hierarchical categorization. Instead ofclassifying records into separate categories, hierarchical categoriesclassify records into both broad groupings and progressively narrowergroupings. An example of hierarchical categorization is found inbiology, where organisms are organized, from broadest to narrowest, bykingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Hierarchicalcategorization is commonly used in conventional internet search engines,such as those found at the Yahoo!™ and Altavista™ websites. To findinformation about a specific topic, a search engine user navigates froma list of broad categories through an increasingly more specific list ofcategories. Once the first category is selected, a search enginetypically displays a lower level screen with another list ofalternatives. Such navigation continues down through the various menusof alternatives having decreasing priority levels. At any point of thecategory navigation, a keyword or Boolean search can be performed uponthe records in that category. Search results are only obtained fromrecords located within the category searched. Most search engines onlyallow searches in one category at a time. To search a second category,the searcher must navigate up the hierarchical category tree and thendown to the second category.

Multifaceted classification attempts to address the limits of thehierarchical categorization method. Instead of assigning a record to asingle category, multifaceted classification allows a record to belongto multiple categories. The multiple categories become part of arecord's description, along with standard information for the recordsuch as the title, the abstract (or keywords), the date, and author.Multifaceted classification improves the likelihood of locating relevantrecords. First, the searcher can take several different paths to locatethe same record. Using the analogy of books in a library, multifacetedclassification is able to place a single book on more than one shelf.Second, the multiple categories can be subjected to a Boolean query.Records relating to sports medicine could be found by searching forrecords included in both the sports category and the medicine category.

Boolean logic, segment limitations, hit counts, hierarchicalcategorization, and multifaceted classification help the searcher createmore effective queries, but at the cost of increased complexity. Ofteninstruction manuals or a software program's help menu must be consultedto draft a query. Dialog™, for instance, publishes a “Bluebook” thatcontains detailed lists of segment codes for each of their manydatabases. Lexis-Nexis™ goes so far as to provide free online access andtraining seminars for students to overcome their search engine's initiallearning curve.

New generations of technology and methodologies continue to be developedto improve search accuracy and efficiency. Where one generation fails tomeet all demands, another generation arises looking to fill the gaps.Each generation has been partially effective, however no generation todate has been entirely effective. In most cases, current technology is asingular approach technique to access and organize information, which atcertain times is productive and efficient in accomplishing the intendedtask. However, all too frequently, the user uncovers no positive searchresult or receives hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of end searchresults. In some instances one technology will yield no positive resultwhile another will possibly solve the research task. What is needed isan approach which allows users to employ a simplified means to access,organize, and manage information contained on the Internet and withinbusiness data systems. This approach should combine the best searchmethodologies on the market to provide the most complete solutionpossible.

What is also needed is a methodology that takes existing, legacyinformation and allows users to redefine and reorganize the informationwithout requiring a data conversion thus improving the flow of data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a method of and apparatus for performing a researchtask interchangeably utilizing a multitude of search methodologies.According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of performinga research task within a searchable database includes steps of utilizinga selective one or more search methodologies including keyword search,hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, and parametric search tocorrelate a search criteria to a searchable database for generating oneor more matching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to asegment of the searchable database, utilizing a selective one or moresearch methodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search,dichotomous key search, and parametric search to correlate a subsequentsearch criteria to one of the matching items for generating one or moresubsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matching item is asub-segment of the matching item used to generate the subsequentmatching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteria is aselective one of the search criteria and a different search criteria,and repeating step of utilizing one of the search methodologies tocorrelate a subsequent search criteria to one of the matching items forgenerating one or more subsequent matching items until the research taskis completed. When the utilized search methodology is the keywordsearch, the search criteria is one or more keywords input by a user.When the utilized search methodology is the hierarchical search, thesearch criteria is a selected one of a list of one or more directoryitems. When the utilized search methodology is the dichotomous key, thesearch criteria is a selected one of two binary items. When the utilizedsearch methodology is the parametric search, the search criteria is oneor more set parameters, and the parameters are set by a user. Thesearchable database can be distributed into more than one physicallocation. The steps of utilizing the search methodologies can beperformed by a server. The method can include the step of establishingan internet connection with the server to utilize the searchmethodologies. The internet connection can be established with acomputer system at a remote location from the server. The searchabledatabase can be formatted in a directory tree structure, wherein thedirectory tree structure includes nodes comprising a collection ofrelated data and branches comprising links between the nodes. Thecollection of related data for a particular node can be displayed in anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, and links to related topics. The method can include thestep of maintaining the node by appropriately adding and deleting datato and from the node. The step of maintaining the node can be performedby a node owner who maintains the corresponding node and all nodes thatare linked beneath the corresponding node within the directory treestructure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a research systemfor performing a research task within a searchable database includes aresearch server configured to utilize a selective one or more searchmethodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomouskey search, and parametric search to correlate a search criteria to thesearchable database coupled to the research server for generating one ormore matching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to a segmentof the searchable database, to utilize a selective one or more searchmethodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomouskey search, and parametric search to correlate a subsequent searchcriteria to one of the matching items for generating one or moresubsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matching item is asub-segment of the matching item used to generate the subsequentmatching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteria is thesearch criteria or a different search criteria, and to repeat theutilization of a selective one or more search methodologies includingkeyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, andparametric search to correlate a subsequent search criteria to one ofthe matching items for generating one or more subsequent matching items,wherein each subsequent matching item is a sub-segment of the matchingitem used to generate the subsequent matching item, further wherein thesubsequent search criteria is a selective one of the search criteria anda different search criteria, until the research task is completed. Thesystem can include an interface circuit coupled to the research serverto establish a connection with a computer system. The connection can beestablished with the computer system at a remote location from theinterface circuit. The connection can be established with the remotecomputer system and the interface circuit over the internet to allowusers to access the research system and to utilize the searchmethodologies to perform the research task. The searchable database canbe distributed into more than one physical location. The searchabledatabase can be formatted in a directory tree structure, wherein thedirectory tree structure includes nodes comprising a collection ofrelated data and branches comprising links between the nodes. Thecollection of related data for a particular node can be displayed in anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, and links to related topics. The system can include anode owner for maintaining the by appropriately adding and deletingrelated data to and from the node. The node owner maintains thecorresponding node and all nodes that are linked beneath thecorresponding node within the directory tree structure. The subsequentmatching items can further comprise links to related nodes external tothe segment of the matching item used to generate the subsequentmatching item.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a network ofdevices for performing a research task within a searchable databaseincludes one or more computer systems configured to communicate withother systems, and a research server configured to couple to the one ormore computer systems to utilize a selective one or more searchmethodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomouskey search, and parametric search to correlate a search criteria to asearchable database coupled to the research server for generating one ormore matching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to a segmentof the searchable database, to utilize a selective one or more searchmethodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomouskey search, and parametric search to correlate a subsequent searchcriteria to one of the matching items for generating one or moresubsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matching item is asub-segment of the matching item used to generate the subsequentmatching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteria is thesearch criteria or a different search criteria, and to repeat theutilization of a selective one or more search methodologies includingkeyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, andparametric search to correlate a subsequent search criteria to one ofthe matching items for generating one or more subsequent matching items,wherein each subsequent matching item is a sub-segment of the matchingitem used to generate the subsequent matching item, further wherein thesubsequent search criteria is a selective one of the search criteria anda different search criteria, until the research task is completed. Theone or more computer systems and the research server can be coupledtogether over the internet to allow users to access the research systemand to utilize the search methodologies to perform the research task.The searchable database can be distributed into more than one physicallocation. The searchable database can be formatted in a directory treestructure, wherein the directory tree structure includes nodescomprising related data and branches comprising links between the nodes.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method ofperforming a research task within a searchable database includes thesteps of performing one or more searches by utilizing a selective one ormore search methodologies for each search, the search methodologiesincluding keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search,and parametric search, to correlate a search criteria to a searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure and eachmatching item represents a node from within the directory treestructure, wherein the node is a collection of related data, furtherwherein as each successive search is performed the generated matchingitems represent nodes which reside further down the directory treestructure than the node from which the successive search is performed,categorizing each item of data by a navigation path through thedirectory tree structure and by one or more parameters which arespecific to the node in which the data is included, accessing a specificnode within the directory tree structure using a query string, whereinthe query string defines the navigation path through the directory treestructure to access the specific node within the directory treestructure, accessing a discrete item of data using the query string andone or more set parameters and setting a notification signal by savingthe query string and the one or more set parameters, notifying a user ofnew data entered into the searchable database in response to triggeringof the notification signal, wherein triggering of the notificationsignal occurs when new data is entered into the searchable database andthe navigation path and set parameters of the new data match the querystring and set parameters saved according to the set notificationsignal, accessing one or more nodes within the directory tree structureand obtaining data from the one or more nodes by an external systemutilizing an applications programming interface, wherein theapplications programming interface accesses the one or more nodes withinthe directory tree structure using the query string, and displaying thecollection of related data for a particular node in an encyclopedia-likeformat, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics,links to related topics within the directory tree structure, links torelated web sites external to the directory tree structure, or anycombination thereof.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, a methodof performing a research task within a searchable database includes thesteps of utilizing a selective one or more search methodologiesincluding keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search,and parametric search to correlate a search criteria to a searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein eachmatching item corresponds to a segment of the searchable database,utilizing a selective one or more search methodologies including keywordsearch, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, and parametricsearch to correlate a subsequent search criteria to one of the matchingitems for generating one or more subsequent matching items, wherein eachsubsequent matching item is a sub-segment of the segment of thesearchable database, further wherein the subsequent search criteria is aselective one of the search criteria and a different search criteria,selecting one of the subsequent matching items, and displaying acollection of related data corresponding to the selected subsequentmatching item into an encyclopedia-like format, wherein theencyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics, and links to relatedobjects.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofperforming a research task within a searchable database includes thesteps of performing one or more searches by utilizing a selective one ormore search methodologies for each search, the search methodologiesincluding keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search,and parametric search, to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure and eachmatching item represents a node from within the directory treestructure, wherein the node is a collection of related data, furtherwherein as each successive search is performed the generated matchingitems represent nodes which reside further down the directory treestructure than the node from which the successive search is performed,categorizing each item of data by a navigation path through thedirectory tree structure and by one or more parameters which arespecific to the node in which the data is included, and accessing aspecific node within the directory tree structure using a query string,wherein the query string defines the navigation path through thedirectory tree structure to access the specific node within thedirectory tree structure. The method can include the steps of accessinga discrete item of data using the query string and one or more setparameters and setting a notification signal by saving the query stringand the one or more set parameters, and notifying a user of new dataentered into the searchable database in response to triggering of thenotification signal, wherein triggering of the notification signaloccurs when new data is entered into the searchable database and thenavigation path and set parameters of the new data match the querystring and set parameters saved according to the set notificationsignal. The method can also include the step of accessing one or morenodes within the directory tree structure and obtaining data from theone or more nodes by an external system utilizing an applicationsprogramming interface, wherein the applications programming interfaceaccesses the one or more nodes within the directory tree structure usingthe query string. The method can include the step of displaying thecollection of related data for a particular node in an encyclopedia-likeformat, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics,links to related topics within the directory tree structure, links torelated web sites external to the directory tree structure, or anycombination thereof.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method ofperforming a research task within a searchable database includes thesteps of performing one or more searches by utilizing a selective one ormore search methodologies for each search, the search methodologiesincluding keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search,and parametric search, to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure and eachmatching item represents a node from within the directory treestructure, wherein the node is a collection of related data, furtherwherein as each successive search is performed the generated matchingitems represent nodes which reside further down the directory treestructure than the node from which the successive search is performed,categorizing each item of data by a navigation path through thedirectory tree structure and by one or more parameters which arespecific to the node in which the data is included, and accessing one ormore nodes within the directory tree structure and obtaining data fromthe one or more nodes by an external system utilizing an applicationsprogramming interface, wherein the applications programming interfaceaccesses the one or more nodes within the directory tree structure usingthe query string, wherein the query string defines the navigation paththrough the directory tree structure to access the specific node withinthe directory tree structure. The method can include the steps ofaccessing a discrete item of data using the query string and one or moreset parameters and setting a notification signal by saving the querystring and the one or more set parameters, and notifying a user of newdata entered into the searchable database in response to triggering ofthe notification signal, wherein triggering of the notification signaloccurs when new data is entered into the searchable database and thenavigation path and set parameters of the new data match the querystring and set parameters saved according to the set notificationsignal. The method can also include the step of displaying thecollection of related data for a particular node in an encyclopedia-likeformat, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics,links to related topics within the directory tree structure, links torelated web sites external to the directory tree structure, or anycombination thereof

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a database management andresearching system according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the internal components ofexemplary computer systems used to access the controller of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart showing the process used when a useraccesses the keyword search module of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart showing the process used when a useraccesses the hierarchical tree module of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart showing the process used when a useraccesses the parametric search module of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart showing the process used when a useraccesses the dichotomous key module of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of the research module of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary encyclopedia page provided by theencyclopedia module of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of the maintenance module of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 a illustrates the database management and research systemaccessing the searchable database.

FIG. 10 b illustrates the accessing scheme of FIG. 10 a aftermodifications to the directory tree structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The database management and research system of the present inventionprovides a real time interactive process to manage, redefine,reorganize, access, store, and retrieve information without a need toperform data conversion. The database management and research systempreferably provides a customizable directory tree structure thatfunctions with existing networks, security, and infrastructure. Thedirectory tree structure of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention overlays and points to existing data thereby providing thenecessary management and access processes relative to the existing data.The directory tree structure preferably includes nodes which representhtml addresses and branches which represent links from an html addressof one node to an html address of another node. Since these processes donot require the need for data conversion, the present invention producesa cost savings by deferring the cost of a conversion and an improvedefficiency by reducing the overall time to implement a new databasemanagement and research technology.

A research system of the present invention bundles and enhances fourdatabase searching technologies to better manage and organizeinformation on the Internet or within an organization's own proprietarydata storage system. It will be clear to those skilled in the art thatthe source of such information can be stored locally, remotely,centrally or can be distributed across multiple storage systems. Thedatabase searching technologies utilized within the present inventioninclude keyword search, hierarchical tree, customizable parametricsearch, and dichotomous key. The utilization of the combination of thesedatabase searching technologies within the database management andresearch system of the present invention enables a user to retrieve veryspecific and categorized information.

Keyword searching is a standard utility used to scan a directory or thecontent of documents. Many internet users believe that all Internetsearches follow this technique. A keyword, or keywords, search can beused to scan an entire directory of information sources or searchcomplete documents for a specific string or strings of characters.

A hierarchical tree structure is basically a decision tree structurethat can have multiple nodes, like junctions of limbs on a tree. Thisstructure is similar to those used by Internet directories, such asYahoo!™ or LookSmart™. A limitation with these technologies is that theyare not always designed to index discrete items of information. As aresult, the search may not contain descriptive information about eachitem of interest.

Customizable parametric search technology allows users to preciselylocate desired information by searching the parametric data that iscontained within each node of the tree structure. Parameters willinclude information type and target use of the information. For example,if a user is seeking a house of desired parameters (location, size,price, age), this search technique is reliable. The options for searchtopics and parameters are endless.

A dichotomous key structure is a binary key structure or two-node tree.This structure is used as a decision tree mechanism to instruct users indeciphering information given in an answer or question dialog, often ayes or no answer. Examples of this include diagnosing a medical disease,diagnosing a mechanical problem, and working a system such asclassifying a biological species by physical attributes.

The database management and research system of the present inventionimproves research accuracy and provides data management methodology thatreduces costs and the time users spend finding the desired objective. Aspreviously discussed, in most cases, current technology is a singularapproach technique. This singular approach technique is productive onoccasion; however, all too frequently, the user uncovers no positiveresult or receives an excessive number of search results. In eithercase, had a different technology been employed a positive result mayhave been achieved. The research system of the present invention enablesthe user to quickly and easily jump from one technology to another tomaximize the benefits of using multiple approach techniques.

The database management and research system is a tool designedspecifically to manage information. It is designed to organize andco-ordinate all information contained within a database. As used herein,the term database refers to a single collection or database, eitherpreviously existing or generated, as well as a collection of multipledatabases, such as the Internet. It will also be obvious to someoneskilled in the art that the research system is capable of managingquantities of data both large and small as compared to the Internet. Theresearch system organizes this information into a coherent and orderlydata structure to allow simple retrieval of data within the database.The preferred data structure is a directory tree structure, which willbe described in detail below. This system also monitors changes to theinternal structures and communicates updates and additions of thisinformation structure to users in their chosen areas of interest. Withinthe research system, cross-links are utilized such that related nodesare explicitly linked as a “related topics” data structure within thedirectory tree. This is markedly different from other systems in thateach node of the tree can focus on more discrete topics of information,for example creating cross-links that are more discrete. In addition,the preferred embodiment of the research system converts from one of thefour basic search technologies to another, and then convert again toanother, while in the same search investigation. This providessignificant advantage over conventional single approach technologiesthrough improved search effectiveness and increased efficiency in bothtime and effort.

A block diagram of a researching system according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. Acontroller 10 includes an internet server 12, a research module 100, akeyword search module 300, an hierarchical tree module 500, a parametricsearch module 700, and a dichotomous key module 900. The research module100 is coupled to the internet server 12, to the keyword search module300, to the hierarchical tree module 500, to the parametric searchmodule 700, and to the dichotomous key module 900 to providecommunications between the controller 10 and users accessing theresearching system. As used herein, the term user includes one or moreof an individual, groups of individuals, association, corporation,agency, or any other person or entity accessing the researching systemto access, organize, retrieve, and manage information contained on theInternet and within a database.

The keyword search module 300, the hierarchical tree module 500, theparametric search module 700, and the dichotomous key module 900 areeach coupled to each other to enable the user to quickly and easily jumpfrom one search methodology to another while performing a research task.

The controller 10 is coupled to the public switched telephone network 24to allow communications between the internet server 12 and the users'computer systems 26-32. Using the computer systems 26-32, users have theability to establish a connection with the research module 100 toperform a desired research task. Preferably, this connection isestablished between the users' computer systems 26-32 and the controller10 over the internet through the public switched telephone network 24.Alternatively, this connection is established by any appropriateconnection including a direct connection over the public switchedtelephone network 24 or over a dedicated intranet network.

A block diagram of the internal components of the computer systems 26-32used by users to access the controller 10 of the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 2. While the controller can be accessed from anyappropriately configured computer system or internet access device, anexemplary computer system 50 for accessing the controller 10 isillustrated in FIG. 2. The exemplary computer system 50 includes a CPU72, a main memory 56, a video memory 60, a mass storage device 54 and amodem 52, all coupled together by a conventional bidirectional systembus 58. The modem 52 is preferably coupled to the public switchedtelephone network 24 for sending and receiving communications. The massstorage device 54 may include both fixed and removable media using anyone or more of magnetic, optical or magneto-optical storage technologyor any other available mass storage technology. The system bus 58contains an address bus for addressing any portion of the memory 54, 56and 60. The system bus 58 also includes a data bus for transferring databetween and among the CPU 72, the main memory 56, the video memory 60,the mass storage device 54 and the modem 52.

The computer system 50 is also coupled to a number of peripheral inputand output devices including the keyboard 68, the mouse 70, and theassociated display 66. The keyboard 68 is coupled to the CPU 72 forallowing a user to input data and control commands into the computersystem 50. A conventional mouse 70 is coupled to the keyboard 68 orcomputer system 50, directly, for manipulating graphic images on thedisplay 66 as a cursor control device in a conventional manner. Thedisplay 66 displays video and graphical images generated by the computersystem 50.

A port of the video memory 60 is coupled to a video multiplex andshifter circuit 62, which in turn is coupled to a video amplifier 64.The video amplifier 64 drives the display 66, when it is being used. Thevideo multiplex and shifter circuitry 62 and the video amplifier 64convert pixel data stored in the video memory 60 to raster signalssuitable for use by the display 66.

One advantage of the database management and research system of thepresent invention over conventional search techniques lies in theability of the research module 100 to run discrete searches, the abilityto separate information that is typically not able to be separated. Forexample, a computer hardware manufacturer would like to providepotential customers a way to answer questions regarding their products.Previously they were able to provide for a way that they could showproduct areas to their customers, but their site did not provide thefunctionality to search on more specific items. Using technologyprovided by the database management and research system of the presentinvention, users can locate information on discrete product part numbersso customers can obtain complete product information more quickly, andmake faster and more educated purchasing decisions.

The powerful discrete searching capability of the research system can becompared to a trip to a common grocery store. In a typical searchingmethodology you may have the ability to search by aisle. The user knowsthat they are looking for Del Monte™ string beans. Their search takesthem to the aisle of “canned fruits and vegetables”. They may be able tonarrow their search, by using boolean logic, to the section of the aislewhere there are canned vegetables. Using conventional means, it is nowup to the user to search through the various types of vegetables to findspecifically what they are looking for. However, the ability to locatediscrete items within the research system of the present invention willallow the user to go to the aisle of the “canned fruit and vegetables”and then continue refining the search. By utilizing dichotomous keys theengine will ask whether the user is interested in “fruits” or“vegetables”. After choosing vegetables, the user may choose “beans”from a list of related topics corn, beans, peas, etc. After choosingbeans, the user may enter a keyword that they are searching for, e.g.“Del Monte”. They may continue this type of questioning until findingthe exact, discrete item that they are searching for.

The system ultimately provides a method for the user to retrieveinformation regardless of how specific. The user has multiple methods oflocating data: either via an encyclopedia interface, a multi-node treeclassification system, a decision tree dialog, via cross-links (relatedtopics), a keyword search system, or using parametric search attributes.

As previously discussed, the information within the research system isorganized into a directory tree structure. The directory tree structureincludes nodes and branches. A node is considered a discrete category.The nodes are collections of related data and branches are links betweennodes. As used herein, the term data preferably refers to web-basedmultimedia that includes sound, video, graphics, and appropriatelyformatted text. Appropriately formatted text can include, but is notlimited to, word documents, excel documents, powerpoint documents,mechanical drawings, and any document or file rendered by a personalcomputer or a workstation. It should be clear to one skilled in the artthat data can also include discrete appropriately formatted andindependently accessible data items, files, and applications withassociated URLs and web interface stored in human resource databases,financial and accounting databases, manufacturing databases, orderprocessing and fulfillment databases, customer service databases, salesand marketing databases, and other similar databases or data fileformats. The top of the directory tree structure includes nodes of themost general type of information, whereas the bottom of the directorytree structure includes nodes of the most specific type of information.As a user moves down the directory tree structure, the nodes at a nextlower level will include more specific information than the nodes of theprevious higher level. The converse is also true, as a user moves up thedirectory tree structure, the nodes at the next higher level willinclude more general information than the nodes on the previous lowerlevel. As new information is added to the research system, the newinformation is assigned to a node. Each node preferably includes anencyclopedia listing, definition, related topics, and keywords. Nodesare also preferably cross-linked to related topics which enables usersto navigate laterally within the directory tree structure. As usersnavigate the directory tree structure, the display screen indicateswhere the users are within the directory tree structure and suggestsother related links. A more detailed description pertaining to constructand formation of the directory tree structure will be discussed below.

The research module 100 performs discrete research tasks using anycombination of the four search technologies including keyword search,hierarchical tree search, parametric search, and dichotomous key search,as discussed above. Such combinations can include one, two, three, orall four search technologies to accomplish any one research task. Thespecific embodiments of these combinations will be discussed in greaterdetail below.

Keyword Search Module

Referring to the keyword search module 300 in FIG. 1, the data in thedirectory tree structure can be searched using the following keywordsearch options: search link descriptions, search keywords for nodes, andsearch contents of the link. In the search link descriptions search, thekeyword search module 300 will search only the descriptions of the linkobjects. In the search keywords for nodes search, the keyword searchmodule 300 searches the keywords located at each node of the directory.For example, searching for “car” will lead to the “automobiles” node inthe directory. In the search contents of the link search, the keywordsearch module 300 will traverse the directory down to each link path,and upload each page, object, or entire site and store the contents intothe search database. This database will be used for the content keywordsearch. The location within the directory will be stored with each linkin the search database in able to narrow the search down to the specificbranch of the directory.

Keyword searches selected at a location within the directory treestructure will only contain results from that node of the directory orbelow, the further down the directory tree, the narrower the search.

Applying the keyword search to the directory tree structure providesmany advantages over conventional search methodologies. Keyword searchesare available on multiple sets of data including tree categories thatare specific to each tree node, topic descriptions maintained externalto the web objects, and web page or object content search. Using akeyword search within the directory tree structure keeps the user withinthe tree as opposed to a link outside the system. Most conventionalsearches provide a list of links and when the user chooses a link theyare taken to that website, typically a website external to the locationat which the search was performed. With the research system of thepresent invention, the user receives a list of matches but when an itemis selected the user is taken to a node on the directory tree structureor to the encyclopedia.

The concept is to include as much data as possible within the system asopposed to pushing the user outside the system via links to otherwebsites. Although the research system does provide links to externalweb sites, the objective is to include enough data within the researchsystem to enable the user to complete the research task without need oflinking to external web sites. Maintaining data within the researchsystem controls performance and how clean the data is. This conceptapplies to the entirety of the research system.

The keyword search technology utilizes a natural language processor thatmaps the search request to the query language of the research system. Akeyword search can be utilized at any point within the research task. Touse the keyword search, first the user does a “find” operation. The userinputting the keyword(s) to be searched for into a text fieldaccomplishes a find. The keyword search module 300 performs a fuzzykeyword search on all topics within the directory. Each match will takethe user to the node that matches the search criteria. Sometimes theresult will be a list, i.e. you search on “tennis” and the resultinglist might be “tennis”, “tennis shoes”, “tennis racquet”, etc.

A flowchart illustrating the process used when a user accesses thekeyword search module 300 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The process of FIG.3 starts at the step 302. At the step 305, the system presents an inputfield to enter a search criteria. The input field is preferably a textfield, but the input field can be any means by which the system canretrieve a keyword(s) to be used to perform a keyword search. At thestep 310, the user enters the keyword(s) to be used as the searchcriteria. The keyword(s) are entered into the text field presented inthe step 305. At the step 315, the research system performs the keywordsearch. The keyword search is performed by matching the search criteriathat was input at the step 310 to the data in the research system togenerate a list of matches. At the step 320, the research system liststhe search results, the search results are the list of matches generatedat the step 315. At the step 325, it is determined if the user wouldlike to view a result of the search. The user indicates the desire toview a result by selecting one of the results listed in the step 320.Preferably, the result is selected by using a computer mouse to“double-click” on the desired result in the conventional manner. If itis determined at the step 325 that the user does want to view a result,the process jumps to an encyclopedia module 130 (FIG. 7) at the step327. The encyclopedia module 130 formats the related data of theselected result into an encyclopedia-like page. The selected resultpreferably corresponds to a particular node within the directory treestructure. The encyclopedia page will be discussed in greater detailbelow. If it is determined at the step 325 that the user does not wantto view a result or after the system has accessed the encyclopediamodule 130, it is determined at the step 330 if the user wants toperform another keyword search. If it is determined at the step 330 thatthe user does want to perform another keyword search, then the processjumps back to the step 305. If it is determined at the step 330 that theuser does not want to perform another keyword search, then the keywordsearch process ends at the step 335.

Hierarchical Tree Module

Referring to the hierarchical tree module 500 in FIG. 1, each nodewithin the directory tree structure is organized into a hierarchicaltree structure, also commonly referred to as a directory. Directoriesare useful in situations of selecting from an alphabetized list. Simplylist A through Z and the user chooses a specific letter. A directorycorresponding to the specific letter chosen by the user is presented.The user is once again allowed to choose a selection, and so on.Conventional directories are typically short on descriptions and simplylist available links.

Within the research system of the present invention, a directorypreferably has a title and short description with a collection of links.Combined with the encyclopedia, to be discussed below, a more robustlist including detail with text and graphics is provided.

A flowchart illustrating the process used when a user accesses thehierarchical tree module 500 is illustrated in FIG. 4. The process ofFIG. 4 starts at the step 502. At the step 506, the system displays adirectory of categories. The specific directory to be displayed isdependent upon the current node within the directory tree structure atwhich the user currently resides. If the user is at the highest node inthe directory, the main directory of categories is displayed. If theuser is at a lower node in the directory, the corresponding directory ofcategories for that node is displayed. At the step 510, it is determinedif the user wants to view a specific category. The user can select acategory from the directory of categories currently displayed from thestep 506. The user indicates the desire to view a category by selectingone of the categories listed in the step 506. If it is determined in thestep 510 that the user wants to view a category, the process jumps tothe encyclopedia model 130 (FIG. 7) at the step 511. The encyclopediamodule 130 formats the related data of the selected category into anencyclopedia-like page. After the process jumps to the encyclopediamodule 130, at the step 512 the system retrieves a subdirectory ofcategories. The subdirectory of categories is the directory ofcategories associated with the node of the category selected at the step510. At the step 514 the system displays the subdirectory of categories.At the step 518, it is determined if the user wants to view a specificcategory of the subdirectory of categories currently displayed from thestep 514. If it is determined at the step 518 that the user wants toview a category, then the process jumps back to the step 511 to jump tothe encyclopedia module 130. If it is determined at the step 518 thatthe user does not want to view a category or if it is determined at thestep 510 that the user does not want to view a category, then thehierarchical tree process ends at the step 522.

Parametric Search Module

Referring to the parametric search module 700 in FIG. 1, each nodeincludes a list of parameters that are specific to that node. This listis customizable. For example, on a real estate website, search on price,location, # bedrooms and you will be provided a list of entries thatmatch all search criteria. When new information is added to the researchsystem it is necessary to specify, or set, the value of each parameterspecific to each entry. The types of parameters include, but are notlimited to, true-false, selected list, range of values, and alphabeticlist.

Only certain users are granted permission to add new information to theresearch system.

The details as to how new information is added to the research systemwill be discussed below. In an example of adding new information, oneparameter might be “type” and the choice of type might be “white paper”,“article”, “book”, etc. The user will then provide which type the newitem is. All parameters will be provided by the user in this manner.Accordingly, at a particular node within the directory, a user canutilize a parametric search to further define and obtain only thedesired information from the information available at the node.

Each area in the directory tree structure provides different technology.As a user moves down the tree, the technology provides more specificinformation. For example, if a user is at a high node in the tree, suchas “music”, and the user uses one of the four aforementioned searchtechnologies to move down the tree, first to a mid-level node “classicalmusic” and finally to a bottom node “Bach”. At the “Bach” node, the usercan run a parametric search for specific items related to “Bach”.

A flowchart illustrating the process used when a user accesses theparametric search module 700 is illustrated in FIG. 5. The process ofFIG. 5 starts at the step 702. At the step 706 the system displays alist of parameters. The specific parameters to be displayed aredependent upon the node at which the user is located when the useraccesses the parametric search module 700. At the step 710, the userinputs the desired search parameters. It is preferred that the searchparameters are entered into a text field or selected from a drop-downmenu, although it should be apparent to someone skilled in the art thatother conventional means of data input can be used. In the step 714, theresearch system performs a search based on the input search parameterfrom the step 710. At the step 718, the research system displays a listof the matching results from the search performed in the step 714. Atthe step 722, it is determined if the user wants to view a result fromthe list of matching results displayed in the step 718. The userindicates the desire to view a matching result by selecting one of thematching results listed in the step 718. If it is determined at the step722 that the user wants to view a result, then the process jumps to theencyclopedia model 130 (FIG. 7) at the step 724. The encyclopedia module130 formats the related data of the selected result into anencyclopedia-like page. If it is determined at the step 722 that theuser does not want to view a result or after the system has accessed theencyclopedia module 130, it is determined at the step 726 if the userwants to perform another parametric search. If it is determined at thestep 726 that the user does want to perform another parametric search,then the process jumps back to the step 706. If it is determined at thestep 726 that the user does not want to perform another parametricsearch, then the parametric search process ends at the step 730.

Dichotomous Key Module

Referring to the dichotomous key module 900 in FIG. 1, the directorytree structure can be organized into a dichotomous key (binary key)structure. Such a structure is advantageous because of its flexibilityfor growth and ease of use. Flexibility for growth is accomplishedbecause node splits are made easily and can be done “on-line” while thesystem is running and also during other updates. Users are also lesslikely to notice a binary split verses a larger split.

In conventional directory structures, where there are multiple entriesper node, users can easily become lost. As directories grow and becomemore complicated, decisions become more difficult and choosing betweentwo paths associated with a dichotomous key structure verses many pathsassociated with directory structures is simpler. Therefore, thedichotomous tree structure improves ease of use for the user.

Dichotomous tree structures are not without their limitations, and assuch, these limitations need to be accounted for. One problem of adichotomous key structure is that navigating this structure is morecumbersome when users are looking for simple topics on smallerdirectories such as shopping, entertainment, etc.

Another problem with dichotomous key structures is that some objects areeither ambiguous or not obvious as to which category or node path theybelong. An example is the pepper. If the choice is between fruit andvegetable, to which does the pepper belong? The answer is fruit, butmany may not know this.

The present invention addresses the problems associated with thedichotomous key structure by building a dichotomous decision tree withinthe directories of the directory tree structure. Such a structureenables users to break out of the dichotomous key at the correspondinglevel within the directory tree structure. This corresponding level istypically a specific node. At this specific node, doing keywordsearches, hierarchical tree searches, or parametric searches of varioustypes is restricted to that portion of the directory. The tree structurecan point to the same object via multiple paths which is valuable forobjects that have more than one category or use. Also, each nodecontains keywords for navigational help. These solutions, and others,will be discussed in greater detail below.

As is the case with the directory tree structure as a whole, within thedichotomous decision tree the higher the level the more general theinformation. When navigating down a dichotomous key structure, eachlower node splits the knowledge base in half. If a user does break outof the tree to perform a keyword search, the search is performed only onthe remaining information below the node.

The dichotomous key structure uses a binary search and is good for usewhen the user is not familiar with what the lower end nodes are. Forexample, if the top node is medical diseases and bottom nodes arespecific medical diseases, a user makes binary decisions based onsymptoms to reach a diagnosis. The dichotomous key structure is alsoused in help desk environments to help end users solve problems, and inscientific classification. The dichotomous key structure is not so goodwhen nodes are obvious, i.e. top node is shoes and bottom nodes aretennis shoes, dress shoes, boots, etc. Dichotomous key is also not sogood in A-Z decisions. It would be tedious to make multiple decisionslike choosing between A-M and N-Z and so on to reach the desired letter.

An example of categories from general to specific within a dichotomouskey structure follows:

-   -   Everything→Organic→Vegetable→Plant→Tree→Evergreen→Tuber-Leaf→Juniper

Other examples of useful dichotomous key search applications are: at thenode for “fiction”, the dichotomous key selections are “fiction books”and “fiction other than books”, or at the node for “Mercedes-Benz” andthe dichotomous key selections are “Mercedes-Benz Dealers” and“Mercedes-Benz Models”.

A flowchart illustrating the process used when a user accesses thedichotomous key module 900 is illustrated in FIG. 6. The process of FIG.6 starts at the step 902. At the step 906 the system displays two binaryoptions, one of which is to be selected by the user. The specific binaryoptions to be displayed are dependent upon the node at which the user islocated within the dichotomous key structure. At the step 910, it isdetermined if the user wants to view either of the binary optionsdisplayed in the step 906. If it is determined at the step 910 that theuser does want to view one of the binary options, then the process jumpsto the encyclopedia module 130 (FIG. 7) at the step 912. Theencyclopedia module 130 formats the related data of the selected binaryoption into an encyclopedia-like page. If it is determined at the step910 that the user does not want to view either of the binary options orafter the system has accessed the encyclopedia module 130, it isdetermined at the step 914 if the user wants to select one of the twobinary options displayed in the step 906. By selecting one of the binaryoptions, the user is indicating that they want to move down one level inthe dichotomous key structure. The user indicates a desire to select oneof the binary options by double-clicking on one of the binary options inthe conventional manner. If it determined at the step 914 that the userwants to select a binary option, then at the step 918 the systemretrieves the next associated binary option pair, where the next binarypair resides at one level down the dichotomous key structure from thebinary option pair currently displayed in the step 906. After the step918, the process jumps back to the step 906. If it is determined at thestep 914 that the user does not want to select one of the two binaryoptions, then the dichotomous key process ends at the step 922.

Research Module

A block diagram of the research module 100 according to the preferredembodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 7. Theresearch module 100 includes a search module 110, a searchable database120, a maintenance module 180, the encyclopedia module 130, a savesearch module 140, a notification module 150, a query language module160, and an external systems module 170. The search module 110 iscoupled to the query language module 160 to format the search request ina query language that the research system can interpret. The searchmodule 110 is coupled to the encyclopedia module 130 to format thecollection of data corresponding to a specific node into anencyclopedia-like format. The search module 110 is coupled to thesearchable database 120 to access the available searchable data. Asdescribed above, the searchable database 120 can be local, remote,central or distributed across multiple storage systems. The searchabledatabase 120 can also include data accessible by the Internet or anintranet network. The maintenance module 180 is coupled to thesearchable database 120 to manage and organize new and existinginformation within the searchable database 120. The external systemsmodule 170 is coupled to the query language module 160 to provideexternal system access to the search module 110. The save search module140 is coupled to the search module 110 to save a navigation path andset parameters used in the search module 110 to perform a specificresearch task. The notification module 150 is coupled to the save searchmodule 140 to notify users that desired information has been added tothe searchable database 120.

The search module 110 performs the research task, the research taskbeing accomplished by utilizing the search methodology specified by theuser. As discussed above, the search methodologies include keywordsearch, hierarchical tree, parametric search, and dichotomous key. Thesearch module applies the specified search methodologies to systemaccessible data to provide the desired search results. Preferably, theaccessible data resides in the searchable database 120.

The searchable database 120 includes data accessed by the search module110. Data within the searchable database 120 also includes links to dataexternal to the research system. In the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the searchable database 120 is a distributed databasewhich resides internal to the research system of the present invention.It should be clear to those skilled in the art that the searchabledatabase 120 can be a centralized database. It should also be clear tothose skilled in the art that the searchable database 120 can resideexternal to the research system of the present invention.

The encyclopedia module 130 includes an encyclopedia. Each node in thedirectory tree structure is linked to an encyclopedia page. Anencyclopedia page provides a description of product or data relevant tothe corresponding node that is managed by an author, business, ororganization. The information within the system, or data residing withinthe searchable database 120, is presented to users as an alphabeticallist of topics from which to choose. Listings can be expanded to revealgraphics and information. Listings can also be linked to createrelationships with listings on other encyclopedia pages. Links aresubmissions by users within the topic. This access method can eitherlead a user to the information required, or be a quick-start method toget to a specific area of information. Each node within the hierarchicalstructure and each link listed at each node of the tree has the abilityto store extended textual or html data. This allows information withinthe research system to be useable without users having to leave thesystem.

An exemplary encyclopedia page 810 provided by the encyclopedia module130 is illustrated in FIG. 8. The encyclopedia page 810 corresponds to aMercedes-Benz/Models/Roadsters node within the directory tree structureof the present invention. Although the encyclopedia page 810 correspondsto the Mercedes-Benz/Models/Roadsters node, it should be clear thatinformation within the directory tree structure can be re-organized insuch a manner that the encyclopedia page 810 corresponds to a differentnode. The encyclopedia page 810 includes a graphics section 820, a textsection 830, a cross-links section 850, and an external links section860. The graphics section 820 includes gif, jpeg, mpeg or otherappropriately formatted images and videos. The text section 830 includesdescriptive text, listings, definitions, etc. The cross-links section850 includes links to other related nodes within the directory treestructure. When a cross-link to another node is selected, theencyclopedia page corresponding to the linked node is displayed. In thismanner, a user can jump from encyclopedia page to encyclopedia page toencyclopedia page and so on. The external links section 806 includeslinks to related topics and subject-matter that resides external to thedirectory tree structure. Preferably, these external links are URL'scorresponding to external websites. It should be clear that otherrelevant information can be included within the encyclopedia page 810.Although each section 820, 830, 840, and 850 is illustrated as a singledistinct section, it should be clear that each section 820, 830, 840,and 850 can include multiple similar sections, where each section can bedisplayed anywhere within the encyclopedia page 810. It should also beclear that the encyclopedia page 810 can be opened as a stand-alonewindow or as a section of a larger window. In either case, the windowcan be larger than the display screen whereby the user can view theentire encyclopedia page by scrolling in the conventional manner.

The save search module 140 enables users to receive the most current andupdated information on any topics of their choice. This is accomplishedby saving the navigation path through the directory tree structure andthe set parameters of a search so that the exact same search can be doneat any time. In this way users can also choose to have new informationsent to them regarding their chosen topic. Once the parameters have beensaved, the same search can be performed again and again, either at thetime the search is saved or at a later date with parameters to be setsuch as the period between searches and the notification method. Theavailable notification methods include pushing the search results to thedesired user through email or other notification as discussed below.

The user also has the capability of saving research criteria inside apersonal profile similar to a “favorite”. This allows the user to repeatthe search on a regular basis. Some examples of this repeated searchinclude a purchasing agent who wants to know the latest prices postedwithin his/her areas of purchasing responsibilities and a scientistroutinely researching his areas of expertise for new developments.

The notification module 150 automatically distributes newly enteredinformation within a particular node or category of the directory treestructure to a user over the computer network. The user has the abilityto define nodes, categories and parameters of information in which theyare interested. When new information meeting the defined criteria isentered into the decision tree or database structure, the systemautomatically forwards a notice of this newly entered information to theuser. This notice is forwarded by one or more methods of notificationincluding over a bulletin board, through an e-mail message, as a newsitem directed to the user when the user next accesses the directory, andon a desktop interface through which the user is accessing thedirectory.

As a user is performing a research task, the search request, orprocedure, can be saved as described above in relation to the savesearch module 140. This saved search essentially defines a particularnode within the research system structure. Once the search procedure hasbeen saved, the user can request to be updated automatically with newinformation from the particular node of which the saved search defines.At each node, specific articles of information reside. As part of thenode, parameters are used to define each individual article ofinformation. As each new article of information is added to a particularnode, the parameters associated with that particular node are set tovalues that define the new article of information to be added. Theparameters are set by the user entering the new information into thesystem. The new information, along with its corresponding parameters,will need to be approved by a node owner before the new information isactually added to the system. This approval method will be discussed ingreater detail below. It is the setting of the parameters that enablesnew information to be “pushed” to other users who have previously saveda search in order to be automatically updated when desired newinformation is entered into the system. In other words, the pushfunctionality is performed in response to a saved search established bya specific user. When new or updated information is added to the nodeand this information matches the saved query selected by the user, theresearch system will notify the user of the added information. After anotification has been pushed to the appropriate user, this user acceptsthe push and establishes a method of receipt. The method of receiptincludes, but is not limited to, email, news groups, bulletin boards, ordesktop. It should be clear that other alternative methods to pushinformation to users are also available.

In conventional systems, push technology is not used within directoriesor search engines. The research system of the present invention makes itpossible to apply push technology to directories and search engines dueto the way that the search has been defined (by its navigation path andby its parameters) and the structure of the tree.

When a new item is entered into the system, the description of this itemis propagated up the nodes of the tree so that no matter what level ofsaved search the user has run, the user will know of any relevant newitems entered into the system.

For example, certain Mercedes dealerships would like to receive allfactory announcements related to a particular model. Therefore, thenotification module 150 is utilized to push all announcements regardingthe particular model that are added to the database 120. Thenotification module 150 also can be used to push data to research sitesor to stockbrokers looking to stay abreast of a particular industry ortechnology.

The query language module 160 uses a specific query language to navigatethrough the directory and decision tree to access a specific node or adiscrete data item within the directory. Each node within the decisiontree has a corresponding query that can be used to quickly arrive at thenode without manually navigating through the branches of the decisiontree. The query can be further extended to access a discrete data itemcorresponding to the specific node. A user has the ability to save aquery for a particular node or discrete data item to later accessinformation at the node without manually navigating through the branchesof the decision tree to arrive at the node.

The structure of the query language of the present invention ispreferably similar to that of a specific query language (SQL), but it isspecific to the combined technologies of accessing the directory treestructure and setting parameters for a search. Therefore, theapplication of the query language is different than conventional searchmethodologies due to the unique directory tree structure of the databasemanagement and research system of the present invention.

In the present invention, all nodes are specific. This is not typical ofnodes in conventional directories. As an example, an “entertainment”node may be listed in multiple branches of conventional directories, butwithin the research system of the present invention the node is specificto a single branch. This specificity allows a query to be performed thatwill find exactly what is being searched for. If the node were listed inmultiple branches, the same query would result in multiple searchresults, which is not desired.

As an alternative to manually navigating the directory tree structureusing the aforementioned search methodologies, the user has the optionto input a query language string to define the research task desired ofthe research system. Inputting the query string yields equivalentresults as does manually going through the directories, the trees, andthe parametric searches, as discussed above. Direct user input of thedesired query string essentially shortcuts the search process. As is thecase with the research tasks described above, the query string can besaved as a save search. Whether a save search is a result of manuallynavigating the directory tree structure or directly inputting a desiredquery string, the research system saves the search in the query languageformat.

The research system has the ability to interface with externalapplications through the external systems module 170. Interfacing isaccomplished utilizing the SQL-like query language as discussed above inrelationship to the query language module 160, an application programinterface (API), and a directory to directory protocol. The querylanguage is a third generation language to do simple queries to theresearch system. An example query looks like:IQUERY <instance node>/<instance name> LIST*FROM<node key>WHERE commercial=YAND LINK DESC CONTAINS “Chevrolet”;The options for this query language contain READ functions and UPDATEfunctions.

The API within the external systems module 170 allows otherapplications, either external systems or web sites, to use the researchsystem as a central infrastructure knowledge base. The API systemcreates an interface between the application and the research systemthat allows a seamless connection to be made without users of theapplication noticing. The application can call upon resources containedinside the research system on the same server or across an IP connectionon similar networks or across the Internet. The external systems use theAPI to periodically or randomly query the research system forinformation, the queries are formatted in the query language asdescribed in the query language module 160. The application can make arequest to the research system for specific data from one or more nodeswithin the directory tree structure, the research system retrieves therequested data, the application pulls the retrieved data from theresearch system, the application reformats the retrieved data for thesystem on which the application resides, and the system utilizes theretrieved data as if the system itself retrieved and formatted the data.

The database management and research system of the present invention isdesigned so a separate portal can be set up within the research systemthat allows external search engines to search the research systemdirectory tree structure and expose information to the search enginecustomers. As an example, an external system is a job search site andthe research system includes a multitude of job listings organizedwithin a job directory tree structure. A user on the job search sitesubmits a request to find all the jobs within California, related toinformation technology (IT) with TCP/IP and SNA skills. The job searchsite system formats a query using the API of the research system andforwards the request to the research system, the research systemretrieves the matching jobs, and the data is sent back to the job searchsite system where it is formatted according to the job search siteparameters. This entire process is accomplished transparently to the jobsearch site user. In this example, the research system provides the backend functionality and the data is fed back to the job search siteprogram running the API. It is transparent to the research system thatthe query originated from an external system.

The directory to directory protocol allows referrals from one researchsystem to be processed from another research system. This allows theresearch system to scale to larger proportions across multipleorganizations and data centers. One organization can maintain dataspecific to its own expertise or ownership inside it's own hostedresearch system.

The maintenance module 180 manages the process of inputting and deletingdata into the searchable database 120. The maintenance module 180 alsomanages relationships between data residing within the searchabledatabase 120. A block diagram of the maintenance module 180 according tothe preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG.9. The maintenance module 180 includes a master nodal record module 182,a node links table module 184, an hierarchical security module 186, anda data maintenance module 188. The hierarchical security module 186 iscoupled to the master nodal records module 182 and the data maintenancemodule 188 to maintain the integrity of the data associated with eachnode. The node links table module 184 is coupled to the master nodalrecords module 182 to manage the linking relationships between the nodesin the research system.

The master nodal record module 182 maintains a record of the data andlinks related to each individual node. As discussed above, each node hasan associated encyclopedia page as described in relation to theencyclopedia module 130. Links at the node are attached to records inthe searchable database 120 or to the encyclopedia. If the link is to adiscrete data item, then the link is attached to the record in thesearchable database. If the link is to another node, then the link isattached to the encyclopedia and the associated encyclopedia page.

Each node in the directory tree structure includes data specific to thatlocation of the tree. The data available preferably includes node-nameand node-description. The node-description is a detailed description ofthe tree node that explains to the user what the category is. Each nodealso includes related topics and search parameters. These topics definea search, they are not just links.

The node links table module 184 maintains a node links table of linksbetween all nodes within the directory tree structure. The links betweennodes are referred to as cross-links. At each level of the directorythere is the possibility of one to many links (objects) available. Atable linked in a “one to many” relationship is the “links table”. Thistable is where the object data is located that the user is interested inlocating. The table includes the fields link-node-name,link-description, and link-path. An example of the node links tableusage is herein described to navigate down the directory tree structureto “plants”. The node links table may include lists to academic websites on botany. Clicking on one of these entries will navigate the userto the external web sites to further research botany. To continue theexample, the user could continue down the directory tree structure. Thelower down the structure the user travels, the more specific and lessgeneral the categories become, and the more specific the links would be.If the user continued down the directory tree structure past “plants” to“juniper trees”, the links would be web or database objects such as websites, photos, movie files, etc., only pertaining to juniper trees.

Cross-links to related topics are also available. Objects are linked tomultiple categories inside the directory tree structure, so users canalso navigate laterally around the directory tree structure.

Many objects inside the directory tree structure belong correctly intomore than one category. An example of this is the “pepper plant”. The“pepper plant” is correctly classified as a plant, a spice, a fruit, anedible plant, etc. This object is entered into the system into one nodalmaster record, as described above in relation to the master nodal recordmodule 182, then entered into the directory at multiple locations withinthe tree. When navigating down through the edible plants, a user willfind the key for the “pepper plant.” A user will also find the key forthe “pepper plant” when navigating down the spice section of thedirectory tree structure.

When a nodal master record is located in more than one location in thedirectory tree structure, a cross-reference table record is added to thenode links table. When the object is located, the user has the option oflisting all other nodes (or categories) in which the object is alsocontained.

This is an “Also Related Categories” function of the system. When thisfunction is accessed, typically by clicking on a related button on thedisplay, for the example of “pepper plant”, the other categories arelisted (plants, edible plants, spices, etc.). This gives the user theability to navigate laterally within the directory structure. The usercan find the “pepper plant” node, click on the “Also Related Categories”button, then select any of the other categories where the “pepper plant”is located and move to that location in the directory by selecting thatcategory.

Using cross-links there are multiple paths to the same data. Manyconventional search engines will list each path as a separate searchresult, which leads to cumbersome and repetitive results list. However,using the database management and research system of the presentinvention, a search result will preferably be listed only once so that auser does not have to wade through multiple search results which alllead back to the same data.

Additional data is stored about each link in the node links table. Theadditional data includes such data as family rating, link rating, type,entertainment, and link hits. The family rating is a rating similar tomovie ratings, i.e. “G” is okay for the family, “R” maybe a little roughor risque, and “X” is pornography and inappropriate for certain familymembers. The link rating is maintained by user surveys and maintains arating or popularity value for the link. The type is a link entrycorresponding to categories such as Commercial, Private, or Educational.Entertainment can include games, activities, art, etc. Link hitsrepresent a value maintained by the system and records the number oftimes users entered this site from the directory tree. The links hitvalue is used for recording how active and useful a link is.

An additional table linked in a “one to many” relationship is the nodekeyword table. The node keyword table is maintained by the node linkstable module 184 and includes keywords associated with a particular nodein the directory tree structure. The use of this table is to help thesystem navigate the user directly to the node location. This gives theuser the capability of navigating directly to this location in the treewith a simple keyword navigation, or with a directory front-endstructure or interface.

As an example, the user can enter “car” and navigate directly to the“automobiles” section in the directory tree structure. The user can thennavigate the directory tree structure to the specific object that theyare looking for, or enter another more specific keyword. A benefit ofthe database management and research system of the present invention iswhen the more specific keyword is entered while the user is at the“automobile” node, the resulting search results will reflect matchesfound in the “automobile” node and the lower directory structure tied tothe “automobile” node.

The hierarchical security module 186 allows users to maintain their owndata, or their own particular nodes of the tree. An expert within aparticular field can “own” this node of the tree. This allows for thesystem to be maintained by any number of editors and contributors withexpertise or interest in their particular node(s). The system isstructurally designed to be able to split the tree into administrativeand logical partitions. If necessary, these partitions can span multiplecomputer nodes and multiple data centers over geographical regions.

Ownership of portions of the directory tree structure can be delegatedto external authors or organizations. Organizations with ownership ofportions of the directory tree structure can further delegate portionsof their ownership to different authors inside their organization.

If a user wants to add a new item, the user must first be logged intothe system. Certain users can be listed as “OK” and if these users add anew item, the item will automatically be entered into the system withoutneed for additional approval. Of course, the user must still provide thedetails regarding the new item's classification, correspondingparameters, etc. However, the item itself does not need to be approved.If a user is not approved or is “unknown”, then the new item will be putin a queue for review by the owner of the particular node to which theuser wants to add the item. The owner of the node will then determinewhether or not to add the new item to the system. Typically, if thedatabase is the Internet or an Internet accessible database, then eachnew item has an associated uniform resource locator (URL). The URL isconsidered new data and in essence acts as a directory. Certain itemswill not have a URL, such as an announcement. For example, anannouncement might be used by a user who wants to enter an itemregarding a new book they wrote; however, if the user does not have aweb site associated with the new book, the user fills out theinformation associated with the new item, which includes somedescriptive text and search parameters. Only this information associatedwith the new item is then stored at the appropriate node.

Each node of the directory tree structure preferably includes a link toa user table. The user table includes a list of users authorized forupdate access to the node. The users with update access to the node haveupdate access to the nodes below the specific node as well. The userwith full authorization can also delegate update authority to users ator below the directory tree structure where they have ownership rights.

There are many examples where such update or ownership authorization isbeneficial. For example, companies that produce products listed at theparticular level of the directory and below. Educational organizationsmight take ownership of specific technologies, such as botany forplants, where the organization could research all botany-related objectsand maintain these links on a volunteer basis. Individual experts in afield or volunteers might maintain areas of the directory treestructure. In corporate Intranets, specific departments maintain theirown objects on the directory tree structure.

The hierarchical security module 186 enables node owners to control theaddition and deletion of data into the searchable database 120. However,the nodes and associated content also need to be maintained, which is afunction of the data maintenance module 188.

Volunteers and special interest groups act to maintain the nodes andassociated content. Maintenance preferably includes the need to ratecontent, match parameters, scan new items to eliminate spam, hate mail,etc., and scrub links to maintain the reliability of links. In corporateIntranets, individual authors or departments can maintain this structureand object links. If the reliability of a link is below a thresholdvalue the link can be eliminated. Such a reliability check is an exampleof business policies that can be set.

The data in the directory is manually entered and maintained. Forcontent on commercial web sites, users submit data into a holding queueto be reviewed before being released and added to the research system.The data maintenance module 188 performs up-front edits to insure datacompleteness and integrity.

One method by which new data is added is for the user to navigate thedirectory tree structure to the correct location. At the correctlocation, the user selects an “add link” option. A set of forms ispresented to the user who will then fill in the data fields. For eachnew data item to be added, the user will also set the parameterscorresponding to the location within the directory tree structure towhich the new data item is to be added. These parameters are of the typedescribed above in relation to the parametric search. After the up-frontedits, the data is added or moved to the update queue, where the data isreviewed and released (or discarded). The user can navigate thedirectory tree structure again to add the same link to other locationswithin the directory. This is done by selecting the “add again toanother category” option, then navigating to the new location andselecting “add link” option as before. The system will “remember” thelink record and add the link to the current node record as well. Itshould be clear to those skilled in the art that other methods of dataentry are also available to be used to submit new information into theresearch system.

Once a user has accessed the research system, the user has the abilityto perform a research task and find desired information that resides inthe searchable database 120. The data in the searchable database 120 isorganized into a directory tree structure by the research system. Ateach branch in the tree is a node which includes related information.The higher the node is within the directory tree structure the moregeneral the information, and the lower the node is within the directorytree structure the more specific the information. At each node withinthe tree, the user is presented with the option of using any one orcombinations of the four search methodologies utilized by the researchsystem. The four search methodologies are keyword search, hierarchicaltree search, dichotomous key search, and parametric search. Regardlessas to which search methodology or search methodologies are used to reacha particular node, the user can utilize any of the four searchmethodologies to further refine the search and move further down thedirectory tree structure. The user may also navigate back up thedirectory tree structure to a higher node, and once again have theoption to use any one of the four search methodologies to refine thesearch from the current node and move further down the directory treestructure. The related information at each node is presented in the formof an encyclopedia page. Each node is linked to an encyclopedia page,where the encyclopedia page displays the related information associatedwith that particular node. Such related information can include a title,short description, text, graphics, and links to related topics. Thelinks are typically to other nodes within the research system. However,the links may be to web sites external to the research system. In thismanner, a user can navigate the directory tree structure, utilizing anyone of the four search methodologies in any combination to reach thedesired result.

The following is an example of how all four search methodologies can beutilized to successfully complete a research task. After accessing thedatabase management and research system, a user inputs the characterstring “transportation” utilizing the keyword search option. The keywordsearch module then yields a list of search results including the node“transportation”. The user performs a hierarchical tree search on“transportation” which results in a list including “airplane”,“automobile”, “boat”, “train”, etc. The user can then furtherinvestigate “automobile” by performing a dichotomous key search. Thedichotomous key search on “automobile” yields the two choices “foreign”and “domestic”. The user chooses “foreign” and the next dichotomous keysearch yields the two choices “specific car manufacturer” and “not aspecific manufacturer”. The user then performs a hierarchical search on“specific car manufacturer” that results in a list of foreign carmanufactures which includes BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, etc. The userperforms a dichotomous key search on “Mercedes-Benz” that yields the twochoices “Mercedes-Benz Dealers” and “Mercedes-Benz Models”. The userchooses “Mercedes-Benz Dealers” and the next dichotomous key searchyields the two choices “North American Dealerships” and “EuropeanDealerships”. The user chooses “North American Dealerships” and the nextdichotomous key search yields the two choices “west” and “east”. Theuser then performs a parametric search on “west” by inputting therelevant parameters to “object type”, “language”, and “family rating”.The parameters are selected from provided drop down menus. Additionalmeans for selecting parameters include listing items to be checked ornot checked. Such parameters to be checked include “technical document”,“commercial”, “recalls”, exclusive”, “OEM”, and “full service”. Uponselecting the desired parameters, the parametric search yields adiscrete list of dealerships that match the selected parameters. Byselecting a particular dealership from the list of dealerships, anencyclopedia page is displayed by the encyclopedia module. The displayedencyclopedia page corresponds to the selected dealership.

As discussed above, the research system provides search techniques andmethodologies that enable users to navigate down a directory treestructure for the purpose of performing a research task and findingdiscrete information. The directory tree structure is organized suchthat the upper levels include relatively more general information andthe lower levels include relatively more specific information. Theresearch system also provides functionality that enables the user tomove back up the directory tree structure, preferably moving back up thedirectory one level at a time. In this way, the user is able to navigateup and down the directory tree structure to perform the desired researchtask.

As discussed above, the database management and research system of thepresent invention utilizes a directory tree structure to manage andaccess data within a searchable database. The directory tree structureis preferably customizable and is constructed using easy to usetemplates. An appropriately authorized user populates the templates togenerate the nodes and the branches between the nodes. In the preferredembodiment, the nodes represent html addresses and the branchesrepresent links from an html address of one node to an html address ofanother node. The html based format facilitates user access of thesystem over the Internet or corporate intranet. As described above, thenodes include related data where data preferably refers to web-basedmultimedia including sound, images, video, and appropriately formattedtext. Appropriately formatted text can include, but is not limited to,word documents, excel documents, powerpoint documents, mechanicaldrawings, and any document or file rendered by a personal computer or aworkstation. It should be clear to one skilled in the art that data canalso include discrete appropriately formatted and independentlyaccessible data items, files, and applications with associated URLs andweb interface stored in human resource databases, financial andaccounting databases, manufacturing databases, order processing andfulfillment databases, customer service databases, sales and marketingdatabases, and other similar databases or data file formats. The relateddata is not physically formatted within the directory tree structure.Instead, each data item is accessible through appropriately formattedaddresses including Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and UniformResource Locators (URLs). Each node includes associated pointers, whereeach pointer acts as a link, or points, from a specific node to a URLcorresponding to a discrete data item within the searchable database. Inthis manner, the directory tree structure accesses the discrete dataitem by utilizing the pointer that links the specific node to the URLcorresponding to the discrete data item. Defining the pointers is partof the directory tree structure construction process performed by theuser. Through such a construct, the directory tree structure essentiallyoverlays the searchable database and groups related data items via thepointers. Each discrete node is a collection of pointers to the relateddata items. This overlay methodology for accessing data is what enablesthe database management and research system of the present invention tobypass the data conversion process when utilizing the databasemanagement and research system with an appropriately formatted existingdatabase.

When constructing the directory tree structure, the user is able tocreate as many nodes and branches as necessary. Once constructed, thenodes and branches can be edited or deleted by the corresponding nodeowners. Editing of a node includes adding a new pointer to a node orredirecting an existing pointer from accessing one data item toaccessing a different data item.

FIG. 10 a illustrates an example of how the database management andresearch system of the present invention is utilized with an existingdatabase. The computer system 26 and the server controller 10 correspondto the like elements of FIG. 1. As in FIG. 1, the computer system 26 iscoupled to the server controller 10 preferably via the public switchedtelephone network. The searchable database 120 corresponds to thesearchable database 120 in FIG. 7. In FIG. 10 a, the searchable database120 includes database 122, database 124, and database 126. Although thesearchable database 120 in FIG. 10 a includes three databases, it shouldbe clear that the searchable database 120 can include any number ofdatabases. Server controller 10 is coupled to database 122 via a link123. In general, the link 123 represents a link between the controller10 and the database 122. In particular, the link 123 represents apointer corresponding to a specific node within the directory treestructure of the present invention, where the pointer directs thespecific node to a discrete data item residing within the database 122.As such, the link 123 can include any number of pointers where eachpointer directs a specific node within the directory tree structure to adiscrete data item within the database 122. Similarly, server controller10 is coupled to the database 124 and the database 126 via a link 125and a link 127, respectively. As with the link 123, the links 125 and127 can include any number of pointers, where a pointer represented bythe link 125 directs a specific node to a discrete data item residingwithin the database 124 and a pointer represented by the link 127directs a specific node to a discrete data item residing within thedatabase 126. A database 128 is coupled to the server controller 10 viaa link 131. The database 128 is external to the searchable database 120.As such, the directory tree structure does not directly overlay thedatabase 128 and therefore no pointers exist to direct a specific nodeto a discrete data item residing within the database 128. Although thedatabase 128 is illustrated as a single database, it should be clearthat the database 128 serves to represent any data not included withinthe searchable database 120.

As described above, the database management and research system of thepresent invention provides links to data residing external to thesearchable database 120. Such a link is illustrated by the link 131 andalso by a link 129. The link 129 couples the database 124 to thedatabase 128. A discrete data item within the database 128 is accessedby the server controller 10 via the link 131. A specific node within thedirectory tree structure does not include a pointer which directs theparticular node to a discrete data item residing within the database128; instead, the specific node is linked via conventional means, as forexample a hypertext link that takes a user outside the system of thepresent invention by linking to a web server containing the discretedata item. Alternatively, the specific node includes a pointercorresponding to the link 125 that directs the specific node to adiscrete data item residing within the database 124. In turn, thediscrete data item residing within the database 124 includes aconventional link 129 directed to the discrete data item residing withinthe database 128, the link 129 takes the user outside the system of thepresent invention.

Nodes and branches can be added, edited, or deleted within the directorytree structure of the present invention. Such modifications are made tothe directory tree structure using the templates of the databasemanagement and research system. FIG. 10 b illustrates the databasemanagement and research system of FIG. 10 a after modifications to thedirectory tree structure have been made. FIG. 10 a illustrates the link131 representative of a hypertext link between a specific node withinthe directory tree structure and a discrete data item residing withinthe database 128, the database 128 residing external to the system ofthe present invention. In FIG. 10 b, the database 128 is coupled to theserver controller 10 via a link 133. By using the templates to edit thespecific node, a pointer is added to the specific node that now directsthe specific node to the discrete data item residing within the database128, thereby eliminating the need to link the specific node to thediscrete data item via the conventional link 131. By replacing theconventional link 131 with the pointer represented by the link 133, theuser is no longer taken outside the system of the present invention toview the discrete data item. By staying within the system of the presentinvention, all or a portion of the discrete data item can be displayedwithin an encyclopedia page corresponding to the specific node. If theuser chooses to view the complete original discrete data item, the userwill then be taken out of the system via the link 133 to the database128. The added pointer is part of the directory tree structure and assuch the directory tree structure now overlays the discrete data itemrepresented by the database 128. Since data within the database 128 isnow accessible by the overlaid directory tree structure, the database128 is included within searchable database 120, as illustrated in FIG.10 b.

The research system described above has been discussed in terms of asingle directory tree structure; however, it should be apparent that theresearch system of the present invention can be scaled to includemultiple directory tree structures maintained at remote networklocations. Such scalability allows other organizations to maintainportions of the directory tree structure distinctly but allows thedirectory tree structure network to function as one logical system orsearchable database. By segmenting sections of the directory treestructure into different data centers, the research system essentiallybecomes a knowledge system where a user can find specific and relatedinformation. For example, a user can use the research system to diagnosea medical condition and find relevant information related to thatmedical condition. The user can also find related sites like clinics andmedicines available to treat the medical condition.

The present invention has been described in terms of specificembodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding ofprinciples of construction and operation of the invention. Suchreference herein to specific embodiments and details thereof is notintended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made inthe embodiment chosen for illustration without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. Specifically, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that while the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is accessible over the internet through the public switchedtelephone network, the present invention could also be accessible on anyother appropriate communication structures both wired and wireless,including cable, intranets, direct connections and the like.

1. A method of performing a research task within a searchable databasecomprising the steps of: a. utilizing a research module to correlate asearch criteria to a searchable database for generating one or morematching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to a segment ofthe searchable database, further wherein the research module includes akeyword search, a hierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and aparametric search; b. utilizing the research module to correlate asubsequent search criteria to one of the matching items for generatingone or more subsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matchingitem is a sub-segment of the matching item used to generate thesubsequent matching item, and further wherein the subsequent searchcriteria is a selective one of the search criteria and a differentsearch criteria; and c. repeating step (b) until the research task iscompleted such that each utilization of the research module includes theavailability of the keyword search, the hierarchical search, thedichotomous key search, and the parametric search at any location,including at any displayed page, within the searchable database, whereinthe keyword search, the hierarchical search, the dichotomous key search,and the parametric search are available at any displayed page within thesearchable database without requiring user input.
 2. The method asclaimed in claim 1 wherein when the keyword search is utilized, thesearch criteria is one or more keywords input by a user.
 3. The methodas claimed in claim 1 wherein when the hierarchical search is utilized,the search criteria is a selected one of a list of one or more directoryitems.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the dichotomouskey is utilized, the search criteria is a selected one of two binaryitems.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the parametricsearch is utilized, the search criteria is one or more set parameters,and further wherein the parameters are set by a user.
 6. The method asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the searchable database is distributed intomore than one physical location.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1wherein the steps of utilizing the research module are performed by aserver.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7 further comprisingestablishing an internet connection with the server to utilize theresearch module.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 8 wherein theinternet connection is established with a computer system at a remotelocation from the server.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe searchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure, andfurther wherein the directory tree structure includes nodes comprising acollection of related data and branches comprising links between thenodes.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the collection ofrelated data for a particular node is displayed in an encyclopedia-likeformat, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics,and links to related topics.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 10further comprising the step of maintaining the node by appropriatelyadding and deleting data to and from the node.
 13. The method as claimedin claim 12 wherein the step of maintaining the node is performed by anode owner who maintains the corresponding node and all nodes that arelinked beneath the corresponding node within the directory treestructure.
 14. A research system for performing a research task within asearchable database comprising: a. means for accessing the searchabledatabase; and b. means for utilizing a research module coupled to themeans for accessing to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein eachmatching item corresponds to a segment of the searchable database,further wherein the research module includes a keyword search, ahierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and a parametric searchsuch that each utilization of the research module includes theavailability of each search at any location, including at any displayedpage, within the searchable database, wherein the keyword search, thehierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, and the parametricsearch are available at any displayed page within the searchabledatabase without requiring user input.
 15. The research system asclaimed in claim 14 wherein when the keyword search is utilized, thesearch criteria is one or more keywords input by a user.
 16. Theresearch system as claimed in claim 14 wherein when the hierarchicalsearch is utilized, the search criteria is a selected one of a list ofone or more directory items.
 17. The research system as claimed in claim14 wherein when the dichotomous key search is utilized, the searchcriteria is a selected one of two binary items.
 18. The research systemas claimed in claim 14 wherein when the parametric search is utilized,the search criteria is one or more set parameters, and further whereinthe parameters are set by a user.
 19. The research system as claimed inclaim 14 wherein the searchable database is distributed into more thanone physical location.
 20. The research system as claimed in claim 14wherein the means for utilizing the research module is included within aserver.
 21. The research system as claimed in claim 20 furthercomprising means for establishing an internet connection with the serverto utilize the research module.
 22. The research system as claimed inclaim 21 wherein the internet connection is established with a computersystem at a remote location from the server.
 23. The research system asclaimed in claim 14 wherein the searchable database is formatted in adirectory tree structure, and further wherein the directory treestructure includes nodes comprising a collection of related data andbranches comprising links between the nodes.
 24. The research system asclaimed in claim 23 wherein the collection of related data for aparticular node is displayed in an encyclopedia-like format, wherein theencyclopedia-like format includes text, graphics, and links to relatedtopics.
 25. The research system as claimed in claim 23 furthercomprising means for maintaining the node by appropriately adding anddeleting related data to and from the node.
 26. The research system asclaimed in claim 25 wherein maintaining the node is performed by a nodeowner who maintains the corresponding node and all nodes that are linkedbeneath the corresponding node within the directory tree structure. 27.A research system for performing a research task within a searchabledatabase comprising a research server configured to utilize a researchmodule to correlate a search criteria to the searchable database coupledto the research server for generating one or more matching items,wherein each matching item corresponds to a segment of the searchabledatabase, further wherein the research module includes a keyword search,a hierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and a parametricsearch, to utilize the research module to correlate a subsequent searchcriteria to one of the matching items for generating one or moresubsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matching item is asub-segment of the matching item used to generate the subsequentmatching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteria is aselective one of the search criteria and a different search criteria,and to repeat the utilization of the research module to correlate asubsequent search criteria to one of the matching items for generatingone or more subsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matchingitem is a sub-segment of the matching item used to generate thesubsequent matching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteriais a selective one of the search criteria and a different searchcriteria, until the research task is completed, and further wherein eachutilization of the research module includes the availability of thekeyword search, the hierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, andthe parametric search at any location, including at any displayed page,within the searchable database, wherein the keyword search, thehierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, and the parametricsearch are available at any displayed page within the searchabledatabase without requiring user input.
 28. The research system asclaimed in claim 27 further comprising an interface circuit coupled tothe research server to establish a connection with a computer system.29. The research system as claimed in claim 28 wherein the connection isestablished with the computer system at a remote location from theinterface circuit.
 30. The research system as claimed in claim 29wherein the connection is established with the remote computer systemand the interface circuit over the internet to allow users to access theresearch system and to utilize the research module to perform theresearch task.
 31. The research system as claimed in claim 27 whereinthe searchable database is distributed into more than one physicallocation.
 32. The research system as claimed in claim 27 wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure, andfurther wherein the directory tree structure includes nodes comprising acollection of related data and branches comprising links between thenodes.
 33. The research system as claimed in claim 32 wherein thecollection of related data for a particular node is displayed in anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, and links to related topics.
 34. The research system asclaimed in claim 32 further comprising a node owner for maintaining thenode by appropriately adding and deleting related data to and from thenode.
 35. The research system as claimed in claim 34 wherein the nodeowner maintains the corresponding node and all nodes that are linkedbeneath the corresponding node within the directory tree structure. 36.The research system as claimed in claim 32 wherein the subsequentmatching items further comprise links to related nodes external to thesegment of the matching item used to generate the subsequent matchingitem.
 37. A network of devices for performing a research task within asearchable database comprising: a. one or more computer systemsconfigured to communicate with other systems; and b. a research serverconfigured to couple to the one or more computer systems to utilize aresearch module to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase coupled to the research server for generating one or morematching items, wherein each matching item corresponds to a segment ofthe searchable database, further wherein the research module includes akeyword search, a hierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and aparametric search, to utilize the research module to correlate asubsequent search criteria to one of the matching items for generatingone or more subsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matchingitem is a sub-segment of the matching item used to generate thesubsequent matching item, further wherein the subsequent search criteriais a selective one of the search criteria and a different searchcriteria, and to repeat the utilization of the research module tocorrelate a subsequent search criteria to one of the matching items forgenerating one or more subsequent matching items, wherein eachsubsequent matching item is a sub-segment of the matching item used togenerate the subsequent matching item, further wherein the subsequentsearch criteria is a selective one of the search criteria and adifferent search criteria, until the research task is completed, andfurther wherein each utilization of the research module includes theavailability of the keyword search, the hierarchical search, thedichotomous key search, and the parametric search at any location,including at any displayed page, within the searchable database, whereinthe keyword search, the hierarchical search, the dichotomous key search,and the parametric search are available at any displayed page within thesearchable database without requiring user input.
 38. The network ofdevices as claimed in claim 37 wherein the one or more computer systemsand the research server are coupled together over the internet to allowusers to access the research system and to utilize the research moduleto perform the research task.
 39. The network of devices as claimed inclaim 38 wherein the searchable database is distributed into more thanone physical location.
 40. The network of devices as claimed in claim 39wherein the searchable database is formatted in a directory treestructure, and further wherein the directory tree structure includesnodes comprising related data and branches comprising links between thenodes.
 41. A method of performing a research task within a searchabledatabase comprising the steps of: a. performing one or more searches byutilizing a research module, the research module including a keywordsearch, a hierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and aparametric search such that each utilization of the research moduleincludes the availability of each search at any location, including atany displayed page, within a searchable database, wherein the keywordsearch, the hierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, and theparametric search are available at any displayed page within thesearchable database without requiring user input, to correlate a searchcriteria to the searchable database for generating one or more matchingitems, wherein the searchable database is formatted in a directory treestructure and each matching item represents a node from within thedirectory tree structure, wherein the node is a collection of relateddata, and further wherein as each successive search is performed thegenerated matching items represent nodes which reside further down thedirectory tree structure than the node from which the successive searchis performed; b. categorizing each item of data by a navigation paththrough the directory tree structure and by one or more parameters whichare specific to the node in which the data is included; c. accessing aspecific node within the directory tree structure using a query string,wherein the query string defines the navigation path through thedirectory tree structure to access the specific node within thedirectory tree structure; d. accessing a discrete item of data using thequery string and one or more set parameters and setting a notificationsignal by saving the query string and the one or more set parameters; e.notifying a user of new data entered into the searchable database inresponse to triggering of the notification signal, wherein triggering ofthe notification signal occurs when new data is entered into thesearchable database and the navigation path and set parameters of thenew data match the query string and set parameters saved according tothe set notification signal; f. accessing one or more nodes within thedirectory tree structure and obtaining data from the one or more nodesby an external system utilizing an applications programming interface,wherein the applications programming interface accesses the one or morenodes within the directory tree structure using the query string; and g.displaying the collection of related data for a particular node in anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, links to related topics within the directory treestructure, links to related web sites external to the directory treestructure, or any combination thereof.
 42. A method of performing aresearch task within a searchable database comprising the steps of: a.utilizing a research module to correlate a search criteria to thesearchable database for generating one or more matching items, whereineach matching item corresponds to a segment of the searchable database,further wherein the research module includes a keyword search, ahierarchical search, a dichotomous key search, and a parametric search;b. utilizing the research module to correlate a subsequent searchcriteria to one of the matching items for generating one or moresubsequent matching items, wherein each subsequent matching item is asub-segment of the segment of the searchable database, and furtherwherein the subsequent search criteria is a selective one of the searchcriteria and a different search criteria, and further wherein eachutilization of the research module includes the availability of thekeyword search, the hierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, andthe parametric search at any location, including at any displayed page,within the searchable database, wherein the keyword search, thehierarchical search, the dichotomous key search, and the parametricsearch are available at any displayed page within the searchabledatabase without requiring user input; c. selecting one of thesubsequent matching items; and d. displaying a collection of relateddata corresponding to the selected subsequent matching item into anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, and links to related objects.
 43. A method of performinga research task within a searchable database comprising the steps of: a.performing one or more searches by utilizing a research module, theresearch module including a keyword search, a hierarchical search, adichotomous key search, and a parametric search such that eachutilization of the research module includes the availability of eachsearch at any location, including at any displayed page, within thesearchable database, wherein the keyword search, the hierarchicalsearch, the dichotomous key search, and the parametric search areavailable at any displayed page within the searchable database withoutrequiring user input, to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure and eachmatching item represents a node from within the directory treestructure, wherein the node is a collection of related data, and furtherwherein as each successive search is performed the generated matchingitems represent nodes which reside further down the directory treestructure than the node from which the successive search is performed;b. categorizing each item of data by a navigation path through thedirectory tree structure and by one or more parameters which arespecific to the node in which the data is included; and c. accessing aspecific node within the directory tree structure using a query string,wherein the query string defines the navigation path through thedirectory tree structure to access the specific node within thedirectory tree structure.
 44. The method as claimed in claim 43 furthercomprising the steps of: a. accessing a discrete item of data using thequery string and one or more set parameters and setting a notificationsignal by saving the query string and the one or more set parameters;and b. notifying a user of new data entered into the searchable databasein response to triggering of the notification signal, wherein triggeringof the notification signal occurs when new data is entered into thesearchable database and the navigation path and set parameters of thenew data match the query string and set parameters saved according tothe set notification signal.
 45. The method as claimed in claim 43further comprising the step of accessing one or more nodes within thedirectory tree structure and obtaining data from the one or more nodesby an external system utilizing an applications programming interface,wherein the applications programming interface accesses the one or morenodes within the directory tree structure using the query string. 46.The method as claimed in claim 43 further comprising the step ofdisplaying the collection of related data for a particular node in anencyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like format includestext, graphics, links to related topics within the directory treestructure, links to related web sites external to the directory treestructure, or any combination thereof.
 47. A method of performing aresearch task within a searchable database comprising the steps of: a.performing one or more searches by utilizing a research module, theresearch module including a keyword search, a hierarchical search, adichotomous key search, and a parametric search such that eachutilization of the research module includes the availability of eachsearch at any location, including at any displayed page, within thesearchable database, wherein the keyword search, the hierarchicalsearch, the dichotomous key search, and the parametric search areavailable at any displayed page within the searchable database withoutrequiring user input, to correlate a search criteria to the searchabledatabase for generating one or more matching items, wherein thesearchable database is formatted in a directory tree structure and eachmatching item represents a node from within the directory treestructure, wherein the node is a collection of related data, and furtherwherein as each successive search is performed the generated matchingitems represent nodes which reside further down the directory treestructure than the node from which the successive search is performed;b. categorizing each item of data by a navigation path through thedirectory tree structure and by one or more parameters which arespecific to the node in which the data is included; and c. accessing oneor more nodes within the directory tree structure and obtaining datafrom the one or more nodes by an external system utilizing anapplications programming interface, wherein the applications programminginterface accesses the one or more nodes within the directory treestructure using a query string, wherein the query string defines thenavigation path through the directory tree structure to access thespecific node within the directory tree structure.
 48. The method asclaimed in claim 47 further comprising the steps of: a. accessing adiscrete item of data using the query string and one or more setparameters and settining a notification signal by saving the querystring and the one or more set parameters; and b. notifying a user ofnew data entered into the searchable database in response to triggeringof the notification signal, wherein triggering of the notificationsignal occurs when new data is entered into the searchable database andthe navigation path and set parameters of the new data match the querystring and set parameters saved according to the set notificationsignal.
 49. The method as claimed in claim 47 further comprising thestep of displaying the collection of related data for a particular nodein an encyclopedia-like format, wherein the encyclopedia-like formatincludes text, graphics, links to related topics within the directorytree structure, links to related web sites external to the directorytree structure, or any combination thereof.